Aston Villa face Luton Town in the Premier League on Saturday evening, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up for the encounter looks.
Villa go in search of a third consecutive league win this weekend after seeing off Fulham and Nottingham Forest over the past fortnight, with three points helping to further solidify our top-four position.
READ MORE: Villa team news vs Luton: Emery provides Pau Torres, Konsa update
It promises to be a difficult assignment at Kenilworth Road though given the hosts have quality and will be desperate to secure a much-needed win for their ambitions of avoiding the drop this year, and so we’ll certainly have to be at our best to return home with the desired result.
Emery noted in his pre-match press conference on Friday that both Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa were set to return to the matchday squad after suffering injuries, but there was an anxious wait to determine whether or not they would be fit enough to start.
Villa have undoubtedly missed them when not involved, but as seen in the club’s tweet below, there was a significant boost as Konsa is fit enough to return to the starting line-up after rejoining group training this week, as he replaces Torres, with the Spaniard only fit enough to make the bench.
That is the only change from Emery as we’ll hopefully benefit from the continuity and consistency in the starting XI, with Emiliano Martinez, Matty Cash, Clement Lenglet and Alex Moreno completing the backline.
Leon Bailey, John McGinn, Douglas Luiz and Jacob Ramsey form our midfield quartet, with Youri Tielemans supporting Ollie Watkins in a more advanced role in the final third.
Given our consecutive league wins, there is seemingly a good balance and rhythm to our play in both phases with this side, and although we’ll need to adapt and nullify the threat that Luton specifically pose, we’ll hopefully produce another big performance and claim all three points to continue to extend our lead over the chasing pack.
As for Pau, it’s hoped we’ll see him feature against Ajax in the Europa Conference League in midweek, while we are likely to see Emery rotate more and freshen things up, hopefully off the back of a win in this game.
Representing Aston Villa at Kenilworth Road! 👊 pic.twitter.com/PQnVkAlNvU
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) March 2, 2024
